An increased number of potentially hazardous and environmentally harmful rockets in military storages have become an environmental problem. Due to new legislations, which prohibits open air destruction, arrangements for controlled burning of rocket motors in closed vessels, where combustion products can be collected for safe disposal, have been developed,
One such closed vessel arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,071. The closed vessel arrangement in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,071 comprises a pressure and heat resistant destruction chamber and a neck portion fitted with a lid capable of hermetic sealing, gripper means for tightly mounting a rocket engine having a solid fuel charge and a nozzle facing the gas chamber. The vessel is immersed in a cooling tank filled with water, for cooling the vessel.
A disadvantage of the closed vessel arrangement in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,071 is the large sized destruction chamber 2, especially when small rocket motors are to be destructed. Another disadvantage is occurrence of solid deposits on the inner wall of the chamber. Solid residues, generated by the propellant burning, will deposit on the inner wall and disturb connections to the vessel, such as inlet and outlet pipe connections. Thus, solid deposits on the inner wall will require frequent and extensive cleaning of the chamber.
A further disadvantage is the closed vessel design, which does not admit easy cleaning and repairing of the vessel.